BY STAFF REPORTER
ADDIS ABABA– The U.S. and France have shared to Ethiopia additional 1,680,120 doses of Pfizer vaccine and 6.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX respectively.
“The Embassy of the U.S. in Ethiopia is pleased to announce the arrival of 1,680,120 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that the U.S. is providing to Ethiopia through COVAX. We are sharing these doses safely, equitably, and with no strings attached. Our singular objective is saving lives”, as to the press release sent to The Ethiopian .
These two shipments of 840,060 doses each, which arrived at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, via COVAX on January 24 and 26, 2022, bring the number of doses of vaccines provided to Ethiopia by the American people to over 6.1 million since July 17, 2021, it stated.
President Biden said: “The United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic.”
“We look forward to continued coordination with the African Union and the Africa CDC to deliver these doses across the continent through the COVAX initiative via their established logistical channels.”
It also added that safe and effective vaccines are best tool to end the pandemic, and the U.S. has committed to purchasing and donating 1.1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses worldwide. To date, the U.S. has delivered over 365 million doses of vaccine to more than 110 countries, it underlined.
The pledge to provide COVID-19 vaccines to 92 Gavi Advance Market Commitment economies and African Union Member States fulfills U.S. President Biden’s commitment to strengthen the fight against the global pandemic, according to the press release.
By the same token, Ethiopia has received 6.7 million doses of COVID 19 vaccine from France through COVAX. The Government of France has made Ethiopia the 1st beneficiary of vaccine donations in Africa, Embassy of the country in Addis Ababa stated. This delivery is part of a global donation of 13 million vaccine doses with Denmark, Finland Greece, Italy and Sweden with UNICEF support.
The January 29/2022
